Did I Say You Could Go

By: Melanie Gideon

Narrated by: Caitlin Davies, Vivienne Leheny, Patti Murin, Vyvy Nguyen

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

A suspenseful, gripping novel about families and friendships torn apart at the seams by obsession, secrets, and betrayal with relentless twists and turns that hurtle forward to a shocking confrontation.

When Ruth, a wealthy divorcé​e, offers to host the Hillside Academy kindergarten meet-and-greet, she hopes this will be a fresh start for her and her introverted daughter, Marley. Finally, they’ll be accepted into a tribe. Marley will make friends and Ruth will be welcomed by the mothers. Instead, the parents are turned off by Ruth’s ostentatious wealth and before kindergarten even begins, Ruth and Marley are outcasts.

The last guest to arrive at the meet-and-greet is Gemma, a widow and a single mother to her daughter, Bee. Ruth sets her sights on the mother-daughter duo, and soon the two families are inseparable. Ruth takes Gemma and Bee on Aspen vacations, offers VIP passes to Cirque du Soleil, and pays for dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants. For Gemma, who lives paycheck to paycheck, Ruth’s largesse is seductive, but as the years go by, she can’t shake the feeling that she’s accruing an increasingly unpayable debt. When Ruth’s affair with a married Hillside dad is exposed, and she’s publicly shunned, Gemma uses it to sever ties with Ruth.

Six years later, when Gemma finds herself embroiled in a scandal of her own - Ruth comes to her defense. Their renewed friendship rehabilitates their reputations, but once again, Gemma starts to feel trapped as Ruth grows more and more obsessed with their relationship.

A relentless pause resister, Did I Say You Could Go is the story of friendships steeped in lies and duplicity. It’s about two families who, when pushed to extremes, cross the line with devastating results.

©2021 Melanie Gideon (P)2021 Simon & Schuster Audio

Dynamic storytelling, you did that!

Well done. Didn’t see the big twists coming. I will definitely read more from this author. There were slow parts but stick with it!!

Wow, wow, wow!

This book hit my spot almost immediately! I devoured it in 2 days and I found myself wishing it would not end more than once throughout the story.

The end absolutely knocked my socks off! I thought one thing, then thought I was wrong and thought it again and I was wrong AGAIN!

Sooooo in the top 5 books I've "read" in the 3 years I've been a member! I'll be looking for more from Melanie Gideon!

Waste of a credit

Perverted story of manipulation in families and friendship. I didn’t like most of the characters and wish I had not wasted a credit on this. The narrator was annoying as well.

Absolutely Amazing!!

Wonderful narrators!! Fantastic twist! I loved how the story was told from multiple points of view!

I really liked l!

The narrator did a great job telling the story and making it suspenseful. the twists and turns were enjoyable, you definitely have to pay attention to the story as it flips back amd forth between present time and past.

Great book

Wanted more on the ending , more detail for the ending . But besides that it was awesome!

Entertaining until it began to end

This did its job by entertaining me until it got really dumb at the end. It was very, very obvious and I feel like it was very unhealthy for Gemma to have handled Bee the way she did. These characters became very silly toward the end but the narration was really great! I don’t think it was a waste of time at all but I did find myself rolling my eyes a lot. Lol.

wow!!!

what an awesome book! Kept me listening compulsively. Even though I figured out the twist that was coming about halfway through, the journey to get to the end was delicious! Highly recommend! Easy to follow and easy to immerse yourself in the lives of these 4 characters.

I wish I could like at least one character...

To the point review:
If you want a book that makes you feel great about the world and the people in it, this isn’t it. If you want a book that makes you feel better about your own life, this is it 🏆.

When Vivienne is narrating, I can almost always promise a positive review. She she adds a sarcastic drizzle of poison honey to every book 🍯🩸. But I’m not sure about the positive review for this one.

No spoilers, but first, women can be total jerks. Not just the rich ones... it’s the “privileged”, those jealous of the privileged, the poor, the middle class. That being said, Ruth is especially 🤮 ☠️.

From here, this story goes 🍌super fast 💨. I’m having a hard time imagining putting my 15 year old on Prozac with no questions asked, understanding how anyone thinks a virtual pod is “confidential” when the “moderator” knows who everyone is, and that there are actually people like Ruth in the world.

I might recommend the book, simply because the narration is pretty good, and if nothing else, the story is so freaking insane that it’s kind of entertaining. I also enjoy books that give the teenager perspective… Even if this storyline and characters are extreme, it gives you some insight into the world of these people we are raising. Unfortunately, this book is also far fetched (how many sociopaths can there be in 2 families?), somewhat annoying and predictable. It’s a tossup whether you will like it or not, but I don’t regret my purchase.

What a fantastic book!

So interesting, always something different happening and the ending was worth the wait. I really enjoyed this.